A Discerning Heart Thru Change Series

A DISCERNING HEART

God shows favor to Solomon by appearing to him in a dream and communicating with him. By coming to God in a dream, God is giving His divine stamp of approval on Solomon’s reign and seems to be prepared to bless Solomon and the People of Israel. God will bless them. God is willing to give Solomon whatever he wishes.

In verse 9, Solomon wisely asks for a “discerning heart.” Verse 10 tells us “the Lord was pleased” which tells me that Solomon is starting out his reign on good footing with God. Solomon asks for a “discerning heart.” What is that exactly? Some of the verses in this passage give us hints at what a discerning heart looks like.

First, a discerning heart is one that can judge right and wrong. Now I know right away some of us say, “Oh, the Bible tells us not to judge.” That is only half true and an error in reading and applying the Scriptures. The idea that it is un-Godly to judge things is wrong. The word “judge” is not a dirty word. Many passages describe people without discernment and the ability to judge as foolish (Deuteronomy 32:29, Proverbs 10:13, 14:6, etc). The error comes from misreading Matthew 7. Matthew 7:1-2 says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

In the Bible, a properly discerning heart is one that judges between right and wrong based on the proper measure. Notice that in Matthew 7, Jesus fully says that by whatever measure we use to judge right and wrong that this same measure will be used on us.

May I suggest you not use logic or reason or some kind of philosophy to judge what is right and wrong.

May I suggest you not use your feelings to judge what is right and wrong.

May I suggest you not use what you learned growing up or experiences to judge what is right and wrong.

May I suggest you not use TV, movies, celebrities, or our culture to inform you on right and wrong.

What else is there?

God’s Word. It is good and right and proper to judge everything in life based on what we find in the Bible. The Bible is the measure we should always use to determine right and wrong in any and every situation. If the Bible says something is wrong, then it is wrong no matter what our logic, feelings, experiences, or culture tells us. If the Bible says something is good and right, then it is right no matter what our logic, feelings, experiences, or culture tells us. A Godly discerning heart uses the Bible as the measure for right and wrong.

Second, a discerning heart is one that has understanding in all related areas. As I was thinking about this, it is difficult to explain. When I think about this aspect of a discerning heart, I think about the ability not only to see what is right before us, but also to see the benefits or repercussions down to road to decisions and issues we face now. This means we are knowledgeable about human nature, relationships, money, business, health, and many areas and we can see how those topics relate to what we are dealing with. Let me give you a word picture. A rock is tossed into a calm lake. A discerning heart is able to understand what ripples will be made when a rock is tossed into a lake and can see not only the ripples, but what the ripples will affect in the lake. I hope that makes sense.